Anonymous
by SilvorMoon
Summary: Being on the internet is like being a superhero: both let you have a secret identity. They're also both capable of making your life really complicated. When a superhero - or supervillain - goes on the internet, the level of complexity rises dramatically. When the hero is Atsushi and the villain is Kinshiro, there's no telling what will happen.
1. Signup

It took Atsushi a few seconds to realize what was different. On the surface, the club room looked as it always did: a little dim, a little dusty, and crammed with relaxing high school boys (plus one semi-inanimate teacher they all tried their best to ignore). There was Yumoto in a corner, nuzzling a resigned-looking Wombat. There was En sprawled gracelessly in a chair, staring pensively off into space. There were Ryu and Io playing with their smartphones...

The smartphones. That was it. The two second-years had a pretty set routine from which they did not waver: Ryu checked emails from his legion of admirers and Io checked the stock market. Now they were both looking at identical screens and typing rapidly.

"What are you guys playing with?" Atsushi asked, as he settled into his chair. "Some new video game?" If it was a video game, he was surprised En wasn't messing with it, too. Video games were one of the few things that would rouse En from his customary torpor, at least until he inevitably beat them or got tired of seeing how high he could run up his score.

"It's a new chat app," said Ryu. "Haven't you heard of it yet? It's called LocalLink. Everybody in the school is playing with it."

"So what does it do?" asked Atsushi, leaning in to get a closer look.

"You tell it your location," Io explained, "and it links you with other people in the area - anonymously, of course. You can find people who share your interests or just chat randomly. I'm using it to make business contacts. It's all about networking these days, if you want to get ahead."

Ryu grinned. "I'm just using it to meet girls. Turns out there are a few who haven't heard of me yet."

Atsushi smiled a little. "I'm amazed."

"I know, right?" said Ryu. "But it's turning into a fad. Everybody in school is getting into it. They're all convinced they'll meet the love of their life or their new best friend."

"I think it's the lure of knowing that whoever you're talking to could be right around the corner," said Io. "Most of the people you meet on the internet, you know your chances of ever seeing them in person aren't so good. It's more real somehow, when you know you're talking to someone nearby."

"Maybe so," said Atsushi. He glanced towards En and Yumoto. "So why aren't you two playing with it?"

"If I want to meet somebody, I'll just walk up and talk to them," said Yumoto. "What do I need a computer for?"

"I have all I can do to keep up with all of you," said En. "Besides, I forgot my phone at home."

Atsushi laughed. "Well, maybe I'll try it out later, after I've finished my homework."

"You're so dutiful," said Io, sounding amused.

There was a knock on the door, a polite tappity-tap, and everyone turned to regard it warily. Wombat, apparently glad of the excuse, flung himself out of Yumoto's arms and went to revive Mr. Tawarayama.

"If it's that Gero guy again," said Ryu, without looking up from his screen, "tell him to get lost."

But it wasn't Gero. When Atsushi opened the door, he found it was only Vice-President Arima.

"I have handouts for you," he said brightly, as if handouts were an unexpected treat. He removed a stack of paper from under his arm, briskly peeled off a few of them, and thrust them into Atsushi's hands.

"Thank you," said Atsushi automatically. "What's this all about?"

"Club business," said Arima. "The yellow one on top is a flyer about the upcoming school festival, and the white pages are for you to fill out and turn in. New policy is that all active clubs need to turn in a progress report every month summarizing their activities." He was still smiling, and there was nothing particularly ominous in his tone, but Atsushi still got the message loud and clear: if the report did not get filled out and turned in, and if it did not have something that sounded suitably productive written on it, the Earth Defense Club was going to be in trouble. Again.

"I see," said Atsushi. "We'll take care of it."

"Forms are due at the end of the month," said Arima. "You can bring them by the student council room or give them to me or one of the other council members during class. Either way is good."

"I understand," said Atsushi. "Don't worry. We'll have it done right away." Fat chance of that, but what else could he say?

Arima nodded, still looking around vaguely. Despite the fact that he had apparently completed his mission, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave.

"I've never been in here before," he remarked. "What are you doing?"

Io obligingly turned his phone around so that Arima could see it. "Networking."

"Is this club-related?" asked Arima, his mild expression turning puzzled.

"Well, sure," said Ryu. "We're the Earth Defense Club, right? This is the perfect way for us to learn more about people's problems. We can't help anyone if we don't know what's going on in the world, right?"

"Ah. I see." It was impossible to tell if Arima bought this excuse or whether he was merely giving Ryu a brush-off. Either way, he looked intrigued by the chat program. He took a few steps closer to get a better look at it. While Atsushi rifled through the stack of paper he'd been given, Io and Ryu gave Arima a detailed rundown on what the program was and how to use it. Arima nodded, asked questions, and eventually got Io to show him how to download the program onto his own phone. Once he was satisfied that it was working correctly, he thanked everyone, reminded them to get their forms filled out on time, and ambled off, presumably to distribute more paperwork.

"He seemed nice," Yumoto remarked.

"Yeah," said Ryu. "I wish he was our student council president, and not that other guy. I bet we wouldn't get such a hard time, then."

"Oh, Kinshiro isn't so bad," said Atsushi, feeling the need to defend his old friend. "He just has a very orderly mindset. He doesn't like it when things don't work the way they're supposed to. And you have to admit, from the outside, it doesn't look like we're doing anything much here. We can't exactly _tell_ anyone we're superheroes protecting the world."

"Which means that we're wasting school funding, from his perspective," said Io. "I suppose I can sympathize. If I were him, I'd be suspicious of us, too."

Ryu glared at his friend. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

"Never mind that now," said Atsushi. "Look, the important thing is, we need to fill out these forms somehow. Any idea what to write?"

Wombat looked affronted. "You're protecting the Earth with the power of Love! What more needs to be said?"

"Geez, do you pay attention to anything that goes on here?" Ryu complained. "We'll just have to think of something we can do to keep the council off our backs."

En groaned. "What a pain."

"It'll be okay," said Atsushi, giving his friend a reassuring pat on the back. "There are a lot of things we can call club activities that won't be much trouble for us."

"Yeah, don't worry," Ryu agreed. "We'll just put our heads together, and... oh, wait, just let me answer this message." He turned his attention back to his phone and began typing rapidly.

Atsushi sighed a little. He could say all he wanted that it wouldn't be much trouble to come up with an idea, but with this group, even things that weren't a lot of trouble could be a lot of trouble.

* * *

"I don't know why we didn't think of this before," said Kinshiro, gazing with satisfaction at the small pile of papers that had accumulated on his desk.

Arima made a small noise of agreement, not looking up from his smartphone.

"It _was_ a clever idea," Akoya agreed. Easy for him to say - it had been his idea. Not that he was wrong, and Kinshiro wasn't above giving credit where it was due once in a while, especially where a vain creature like Akoya was involved. Prick his ego once too often and he would take his interests elsewhere. He was a good ally, but he was also too clever and too vindictive to offend.

"We should have done it a long time ago," Kinshiro said instead. "It's the perfect way to weed out those so-called clubs that are wasting school resources doing nothing useful."

"Mm-hm," said Arima distractedly.

"Any club in particular?" said Akoya slyly.

But Kinshiro wasn't in the mood to be baited. He instead busied himself flipping through the stack of forms that had already been turned in. Most of the clubs he actively approved of, such as the archery club, had already filled theirs out and turned them in.

"Arima, I hope when you handed these out, you made sure you informed everyone of the due date," he said instead. "If any of these are turned in later than the last bell that day, we won't accept them. Anyone who is late will be subject to serious review and possible dissolution."

"Mm-hm."

Kinshiro looked up and glared at Arima. "Are you even listening?"

"Anyone who turns in their forms late is subject to serious review," said Arima obligingly, not even looking up. Kinshiro's eyes narrowed.

"What on earth are you doing over there, anyway?" he snapped.

Arima held up his phone so everyone could see. "It's something I found out about from the Earth Defense Club when I went to drop off their forms." He must have seen the warning glares on his companions' faces, because he added quickly, "Naruko showed it to me."

"Oh, _him_ ," said Akoya, in a tone that suggested anything Naruko had something to do with was probably acceptable. "He's the only one in the lot worth listening to."

"That's your opinion," Kinshiro grumbled. "So what does this wonder app do, anyway?"

Arima explained. Kinshiro listened, frowning slightly. It sounded like complete nonsense to him. Then again, now that he thought of it, he thought he did remember hearing snatches of babble about it from his classmates. He usually tried not to listen to them, but some things had a way of being so omnipresent that he couldn't fail to notice them.

"How pointless," said Akoya, when Arima had finished wrapping up his explanation. "If anyone wants to talk to me, they can find me. I don't exactly blend into a crowd."

"Maybe they want to talk to people besides you," Arima suggested innocently.

Akoya sniffed. "Why should they? All commoners are the same. One is as good as another, so why bother seeking out new ones when they can talk to the ones at hand?"

A small flare of green light from Kinshiro's pocket announced Zundar's arrival.

"You are missing an important point, da," the hedgehog chided them. "This could be a valuable tool in your quest to conquer the world, da!"

Kinshiro gently lifted Zundar out of his pocket and placed him on the center of his desk. Arima hastily set his phone aside and hurried to fetch him a teacup, then waited respectfully for him to make himself comfortable in it.

"Please, enlighten us," said Kinshiro humbly. "What use is this toy to our cause?"

"It is a means of gathering information," said Zundar. "Humans will gladly tell their innermost secrets when they believe they are anonymous. You will be able to seek out people who harbor darkness in their hearts, and have your pick of strong potential monsters."

"That does sound efficient," said Kinshiro thoughtfully. "Very well, we'll try it." He fished his phone out of his school bag and handed it to Atsushi. "Here. Install it, will you?"

Arima beamed, as if being asked to handle Kinshiro's tech support were the culmination of all his desires. "Of course, President." He began cheerfully pressing buttons. Kinshiro turned away, satisfied. He could always count on Arima to get things done.

"Now that's settled," Kinshiro said, "so we can turn our minds to more important matters. We shouldn't rely on technology to do for us what we can just as easily do for ourselves. Let's find ourselves a monster."

* * *

"Geez, what a day," Atsushi muttered. Today's problem had turned out to be a hyper-stressed student who was trying to juggle his school course load, multiple after-school clubs, and a part-time job, and had been lectured one too many times about burning his candle at both ends. Even after a thorough scrub and a long soak at the Kurotama, Atsushi was still finding bits of wax stuck to various parts of his anatomy.

"Who comes up with these things anyway?" he asked himself.

He sank into his desk chair with a sigh and cast a reluctant glance at his textbooks. He didn't have all that much homework, really - a test at the end of the week he needed to study for, a project due at the end of the month, a couple of chapters of things to read for class tomorrow, a few math problems that he'd mostly already finished during a lull in his classes. He didn't really feel like doing any of it just yet. When he'd been young, he'd imagined that being a hero would be glamorous and involve a lot of cheering admirers. Now that he actually was one, he was learning it involved a lot taking a beating from really strange-looking creatures and then trying to pretend afterwards that it hadn't happened. He made a halfhearted stab at his studies, only to realize five minutes later that he'd been reading and rereading the same paragraph without absorbing any of it.

"Fine," he said, pushing the book away. "If I'm not going to get any work done anyway..."

He turned on his computer and looked up the main page for the chat program his friends had been messing with earlier. If he wasn't accomplishing anything, he might as well go see what all the fuss was about. Within minutes, he'd set everything up, selected a username and password, and was contemplating the options for who to talk to. How far away did he consider "local"? Did he want to find someone who shared his interests, or have his chat partner selected at random?

 _Well, it's not as though I'm looking to meet my soulmate. I'm just killing time,_ he thought. He clicked the "random" button and waited for results.

A few seconds later, a new screen opened up, and he typed, "Hello?"

Someone with the handle "Golden Arrow" typed back, "Hello to you too."

Atsushi smiled. Apparently the program was working. He typed, "Nice to meet you. So, you live in Binan?"

"That's right. I'm a student at Binan High School."

"So am I," Atsushi wrote back. "I guess this program really is getting to be a fad there."

"So it seems. I wasn't sure I'd meet anyone interesting this way, but it seemed worth an attempt."

"Same here," Atsushi replied. "I guess I'm not completely sold on the idea, but I've been working hard and needed a break."

"Working hard on what?"

Atsushi weighed his answer carefully before answering, "Homework, most recently." Not entirely a lie. He _had_ been doing homework, or at least trying to.

"You have my sympathies," his new friend answered. "Today has been busy for me too." There was a small pause, and then he added, "Club activity, mostly. I'm in the archery club."

"That must be where your name comes from," Atsushi asked. He thought about mentioning that he'd had a friend who was fascinated by archery, and decided not to bring it up. Now didn't feel like the time to mention Kinshiro. "I've never been good at it. I don't have the coordination."

"It takes intense focus," said GoldenArrow. "That's what I've always liked about it."

The two of them continued to chat, rambling from the archery club to the doings of various other clubs and bits of school gossip. They chatted about books - both of them were readers, and seemed to enjoy a lot of the same authors. Atsushi found that he was enjoying himself. GoldenArrow, whoever he was, seemed highly intelligent and keenly observant, and some of his shrewd remarks about some of the school's more eccentric denizens made him laugh aloud. He was surprised to look at the clock and realize that nearly two hours had gone by.

"I'm really sorry," he said, "but it's getting late and I need to go."

"I understand," GoldenArrow typed back. There was a pause, and then, "Will you be back tomorrow?"

"Yes," typed Atsushi without thinking about it. He realized he'd meant it. He had never met this person before, and he already was looking forward to seeing him again. "Tomorrow, about the same time."

"I'll see you then," GoldenArrow responded, and logged out.

Atsushi stared at the screen for a moment, gaze lingering on the words he and his new friend had exchanged. Then he sighed and turned the computer off. As much fun as this had been, he really did need to finish his homework. Still, he felt more relaxed now, in much better spirits than he had been while griping to himself about finding bits of candle in his hair. He reached for his books to settle in for a night of studying.

And of thinking about what he was going to say to his new friend tomorrow.

* * *

Kinshiro frowned as he stared at the glowing words on his screen. By the standards of his original plan, tonight had been an abject failure. He had meant to trawl this chat program in search of useful victims - to chat with someone for a few minutes, sound out whether they seemed unhappy or stressed, and then move on if they didn't seem suitable. It had been his bad luck that the first person he encountered had been cheerful, friendly, pleasant, and so far as Kinshiro could tell, as well-balanced as they came. Kinshiro should have moved on as soon as he'd realized that. Instead, he'd found himself being drawn into conversation. He'd meant only to put the stranger at ease, to make him feel they had common ground and common interests, so as to encourage personal confessions to an anonymous and apparently sympathetic stranger. Instead, he'd found himself getting caught up in conversation in spite of himself, until he was the one who was saying things he hadn't meant to let slip. He'd certainly said more about himself than he'd meant to.

It wasn't entirely his fault. This other person, whoever he was, had _listened_ to him. It had been a long time since Kinshiro had felt so at ease with anyone, not since... no, he wasn't going to think about that. Say that he'd found a kindred spirit, and leave at that.

He supposed he ought to get back into the game and start looking for more likely victims, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do so. He was in a mellow mood, and that made it hard to really get invested in the idea of talking to someone miserable enough to make a suitable monster. Even taking over the world felt more like a chore than an ambition. For now, it was a lovely night, and he was content to relax and enjoy it. He pulled his chair over to the window and opened it a crack, just enough that he could enjoy the night air and smell the scent of flowers coming from the garden outside. The stars were shining very brightly. He looked up at them and let his thoughts wander.

 _I wish..._

 **To Be Continued...**


	2. Login

The student council room was quiet. There hadn't been much school business lately, and after the failure of their last monster, Zundar had considerately given the Caerula Adamas a few days to get over their disappointment. Kinshiro appreciated that. It was bad enough that the school groundskeepers were _still_ trying to figure out how to get all the melted wax out of the foliage. That was one thing that bothered Kinshiro - the fact that the monsters always seemed to damage his beloved school while they were fighting.

But at least there was a possible remedy for that. Kinshiro had set his allies to work searching the ether for targets outside their school. If they could find a useful would-be monster somewhere outside school grounds, they could transform it and set it loose on the city without endangering the school. Perhaps it would even get them a little more recognition, if the battles happened out where everyone in the city could see them. If they were going to rule the world, it would help if someone outside the school had heard of them.

His gaze strayed over to where Akoya was sitting. He seemed to have succumbed to peer pressure or curiosity and had finally installed the app, and was now sitting and typing with every sign of absorption. Judging by the smile playing across his lips and the sparkle in his eyes, whatever he was doing, it wasn't scouting for potential monsters.

"I take it you've met someone interesting?" Kinshiro asked, raising one eyebrow.

Akoya didn't look the slightest bit ashamed. "I've found an admirer."

"You know not everyone you meet is automatically your admirer," Arima pointed out, not looking up from his screen. "And you shouldn't tell anyone you meet online your real name. It's not prudent."

Akoya rolled his eyes. "I _know_ that, and I haven't. We were just talking about finance, and my family's name happened to come up."

He brandished his phone as proof, and Kinshiro leaned forward for a better look. Akoya was not, so far as he knew, particularly passionate about finances, but he had grown up in a family of financiers and had learned about investments at approximately the same time he'd learned to count. It was the sort of thing he always trotted out in situations like this one, where he couldn't use his looks to impress people, or when he simply wanted to remind people that he was more than just a pretty face. In this case, it seemed to have worked. The discussion had started with business in general, then Gero Finance in particular, and then, predictably enough, to Akoya himself and his manifold virtues. Akoya hadn't been exaggerating - he had apparently found an admirer who was willing to praise his intelligence, style, sophistication, and general all-around wonderfulness. Splendid for him, but not very useful for the rest of the team.

"Chat on your own time," he said. "We're doing serious business here."

"You're no fun," said Akoya, pouting. Kinshiro tried to stifle a sigh. Attempting to pry Akoya away from a source of flattery was harder than prying a child out of a toy store. Whatever Kinshiro said, at this point Akoya was going to go right on doing what he was doing.

So Kinshiro turned his attention on the usually tractable Arima. He too seemed to be having a good time. Not that it was easy to tell, since Arima almost invariably wore the same expression of good-humored abstractedness, as though he were always thinking of something lovely that had nothing to do with the current situation. He did, however, seem to be more engaged than usual in his own chat session.

"Tell me you, at least, have something useful to report," Kinshiro said, without much hope.

"Hm?" said Arima. "Ah, no. I'm talking to the head of the Binan Garden Club."

Akoya glanced up. "It's an anonymous chat program. How do you know you're talking to the head of the garden club?"

"Because she's a friend of my mother," said Arima, "and I know her speech patterns. Don't worry, I don't think she's recognized me. We're swapping tips on spring bulbs."

"That is not productive!" Kinshiro snapped, exasperated. "We're supposed to be doing something serious here!"

Arima looked innocently up at him. "But you aren't being serious either."

"What do you..." Kinshiro began, and then stopped.

His gaze had strayed guiltily back to his tablet. He had turned it on with good intentions, and had even opened a few chat logs with a couple of random people, but then he'd noticed that the single stored contact in his list had come online. For the last several days, he'd been checking his screen for the name Windblown Leaves, feeling a pang of disappointment every time it wasn't there, and when he'd finally seen it, he'd forgotten everything else he was supposed to be concentrating on in favor of continuing the debate he'd been having the previous night or the discussion they'd been forced to cut short that morning. He'd been telling himself he could chat and search for potential monsters at the same time, but...

"Well, if we're not going to do anything useful today," he snapped, "we might as well break it up and go home."

"Yes, let's," said Akoya. He had already turned his attention back to his screen. Whatever he saw there caused him to emit a little gasp of delight. Arima leaned in to get a look at whatever it was.

"We've lost him," he declared, straightening up. "We might as well start picking out wedding presents now."

"What are you talking about?" Kinshiro demanded. He jerked the phone out of Akoya's hand, prompting a cry of dismay. Kinshiro ignored the protests to read the last few lines of text. Akoya, apparently sounding out his new friend, had remarked that the Gero family was inflicted with a rather unfortunate name. The mysterious stranger on the other end had responded that it was a noble name that they would be proud to own themselves. No wonder Akoya was thrilled. Kinshiro shoved the phone back at him.

"That's it," he said. "I'm leaving. We're obviously getting nothing accomplished today."

"You're just jealous because someone likes me," said Akoya, turning his attention back to his admirer. "I always knew you had a jealous streak, President, but I didn't think you'd take it out on me."

Kinshiro decided not to dignify that with a response. He simply stood up and walked out of the room. Somewhat to his surprise, Arima got up and followed him. Well, it was gratifying to know that Kinshiro outranked the fascination of spring bulbs.

They had barely left the school grounds before they ran into the Earth Defense Club. Almost literally ran into them - half of them were playing with that stupid chat program and not looking where they were going.

"Oh, sorry!" said Atsushi, looking contrite as he fumbled to shove his phone in his pocket. "I didn't mean to block your path."

"Well, you did," said Kinshiro, and swept past him.

Arima trailed along behind him, pausing long enough to flash the club his vague smile.

"Have a nice afternoon," he said, before picking up his pace to catch up to Kinshiro.

"I don't know why you bother," said Kinshiro.

"A whim, I suppose," said Arima. "Sometimes it pays off."

"I don't see how,"

"It's how you met that person," said Arima. "The one who calls himself Windblown Leaves."

Kinshiro felt his cheeks warm slightly. "I never told you that."

"I notice everything you do," Arima replied. "Especially if it makes you happy. And you _are_ happy when you talk with him. I can see it."

Kinshiro scowled a little. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Arima was vague, but he wasn't _stupid_.

"What are you getting at?" he asked.

"Nothing specific," said Arima. "Have you told him your real name yet? Do you know who he is?"

"No and no," said Kinshiro. "Weren't you the one who just told Akoya giving out your real name is imprudent?"

"I did," said Arima. "But what's the point of being who we are if we don't take what we want once in a while?"

Kinshiro thought about that.

"You have a point," he said at last.

"I'm always happy to help," said Arima.

They had reached the intersection where they usually parted company. Now Arima paused and made a small bow.

"I'll leave you here," he said. "Have a pleasant evening. I trust you'll make the right choice."

Then he strolled off, looking satisfied that he'd delivered his message. Kinshiro watched him go for a moment, wondering what to make of his friend's behavior. Arima wasn't much in the habit of telling Kinshiro what to do. That probably meant that he felt this was important. It wasn't as though Arima had ever steered him wrong before.

Feeling ambivalent, Kinshiro turned not towards his house, but to a little coffee house he frequented. He picked out an outdoor table tucked into the corner, where he could sit quietly and collect his thoughts over a cup of tea. He selected something off the menu almost at random, and once it had been delivered, sipped his drink without tasting it and pondered the possibilities.

Did he want to meet this person? His first instinct was to give a resounding "Yes!" It had been a very long time since he'd felt so connected to another person, so genuinely happy to be in their company. And therein lay the problem. The last time he had cared so much about someone, they had betrayed him in a way that still left him aching. He didn't think he could put himself through that again. He wasn't even sure how he'd handle something milder. What if he met this person, whoever they were, and found out they resented him for his wealth or his position on the student council and decided they wanted nothing to do with him?

But Arima was right. He was the leader of the Caerula Adamas, soon to be the ruler of the world. It should be unthinkable for him to want something and lack the means to have it. If he was rejected, he would simply find some way around it.

 _And if I can do this, then maybe..._

He pushed that thought out of his head. What was over was over. What mattered now was that he take this opportunity that life had handed to him.

Steeling his nerve, he reached for the phone and turned it on.

* * *

Atsushi looked at the screen in front of him and pondered. He had, in fact, been thinking most of the day on the same subject, without doing much but going in circles. For the last few days, he'd been spending his free minutes swapping virtual messages with someone he'd never, so far as he knew, seen face to face. They should have felt like a stranger to him - just another faceless, voiceless person on the internet. And yet, he felt as though the two of them had known each other forever. It was almost a shock to arrive in class each day and not recognize his new friend sitting in a desk nearby.

That was part of what was making him feel so unsettled. The other part was that he'd formed a distinct impression that his new friend was lonely. It wasn't anything specific that he'd said - certainly GoldenArrow had never complained about it. It was just that while Atsushi had occasionally mentioned that one of his friends had said or done something amusing, GoldenArrow had never said anything of the sort. Maybe he was just better at playing his cards close to the vest than Atsushi was, but it didn't seem likely. Atsushi had a sense that there just weren't a lot of other people his new friend felt comfortable around, and that was a sad thing. Everything Atsushi had learned told him that whoever GoldenArrow was, he was intelligent, cultured, observant, and generally good company. Atsushi couldn't help but want to reach out to him.

They were wrapping up a discussion of a movie that had recently become popular when Atsushi finally made up his mind.

"It's strange," he wrote. "I know we haven't known each other long, but I feel like you're really close to me already."

There was a pause long enough to make Atsushi wonder if he'd overstepped his boundaries. Then GoldenArrow wrote, "I feel the same way."

Atsushi breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you ever think about meeting in person?"

"Sometimes," came the reply. Then, after a beat, he added, "Are you suggesting we try it?"

"If you're up for it. Maybe after school tomorrow?"

Another long pause. Then, "All right. Tomorrow after school. There's a coffee shop nearby, Café Coffee. Do you know it?"

Atsushi replied that he did, and the two of them agreed to meet there after school at one of the outdoor tables.

"How will we recognize each other?" Atsushi asked.

"What do you look like?" GoldenArrow replied.

Atsushi ran a hand through his hair. What did he look like? Nothing much. Dark hair, dark eyes, just like a million other Japanese boys. He wore glasses, but so did a lot of other people - he could hardly expect his friend to go up to every person with glasses who wandered by and asked if they might happen to be Windblown Leaves on the internet. And of course, a few blocks away from Binan High, the street would be full of boys in school uniforms the minute school let out.

"I'll tell you what," he said, as inspiration struck. "I'll tie a handkerchief around my wrist. You do the same. That way we'll be sure to recognize each other."

"That should do," GoldenArrow agreed. "Good thinking. I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow," Atsushi promised.

They chatted a bit longer before GoldenArrow said he'd been called to dinner and logged off. Atsushi sat back at his desk, staring at the now inactive window.

"Well," he said to himself, "I guess there's no getting out of it now."

* * *

"I wonder if I can still get out of this."

Kinshiro fidgeted with the teacup in front of him, watching the reflections dance on its surface. He was having some serious doubts about this entire situation. What had he been thinking, anyway? He wasn't a "people person". He had been doing just fine on his own. What did he need to meet some random stranger for? He was just going to be disappointed again. He should turn around and go home. He could pretend that one of them had gotten the time or location wrong. He could just forget the whole thing, and no one would ever be able to track him down again if he didn't want to be found. He set his cup down, pushed his chair back, and stood up.

He sat down again just as quickly, and pressed his face into his hands. He hated himself for being so irresolute, for being afraid, and most of all, for letting himself feel something for someone else. He could avoid this meeting all he liked, but he couldn't change the fact that it was inevitably going to happen. He wanted it too much to give up on it, no matter what his instincts were telling him.

 _Get yourself under control,_ he told himself sternly. _You remember self-control, don't you? You're always willing enough to lecture other people about it. Lead by example, Mr. President, or you should just give up your ambitions right now._

He folded his hands in front of him, closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths until he felt a bit more steady. Once he was sure he wasn't going to panic again, he opened his eyes and forced himself to reach, slowly and steadily, for his teacup, and to raise it just as deliberately to his lips. The familiar ritual soothed him. He could do this. He was the President of the Binan High Student Council, the leader of the Caerula Adamas, and an all-around superior human being. He could manage a simple social interaction.

Then his eyes fell on the figure walking up the sidewalk. A young man, about his age, in a Binan High school uniform. There was a green handkerchief tied neatly around one wrist. Kinshiro felt his heart begin to race. _He's here..._

Then a cloud passed over the sun, just enough to reduce the glare in Kinshiro's eyes, and he got his first clear look at the new arrival's face. It was a friendly face, framed by a simple pair of glasses and slightly untidy dark hair. It would have been an ordinary enough face by anyone's standards but Kinshiro's.

 _Oh, no..._

Kinshiro's first irrational thought was that Atsushi was here just now to spoil his meeting and ruin his day, and this was not fair, because Kinshiro was here to meet his new friend, and he couldn't do that with the ghost of an old relationship hanging over him. The reality of the situation wouldn't fit in his head - it was too impossible. Vaguely, Kinshiro was aware that he was breathing hard, that his heart was going too fast, and he was shaking slightly, but his mind still hadn't quite finished working out what the rest of him was so excited about.

Then Atsushi looked up and waved, and Kinshiro felt the world snap into focus. Atsushi. All this time, he'd been talking to Atsushi. Fury coursed through him. How dare he? How dare he insinuate himself back into Kinshiro's life after Kinshiro had worked so hard to cut all ties with him? How dare he pretend to be Kinshiro's friend while still spent all his attention on that Yufuin character? How _dare_ he try to make Kinshiro care about him? The desire to transform into Chevalier Aurite and destroy everything around him until there was nothing left of this café but a smoking rubble was overwhelming.

And then Atsushi smiled. Just that, but it lit up his whole face fit to rival the sun.

"Kin-chan!" he exclaimed, voice ringing with joy, and broke into a run.

Kinshiro couldn't say anything. He just sat as if frozen and watched Atsushi dodge around waitresses and tables and customers, stumbling and apologizing as he went. His cheeks were flushed with excitement, as if seeing Kinshiro there were the most wonderful thing ever.

 _Why? Why is he so happy to see me?_ Anger was giving way to confusion. He couldn't doubt the evidence of his eyes: Atsushi was genuinely glad to see him, absolutely thrilled to find him here. Kinshiro wanted to demand explanations, apologies, or at least some acknowledgment that they were not friends and this was all wrong, but the words stuck in his throat.

Then Atsushi reached his side at last, and his expression made it clear what he needed to say. He found himself smiling in spite of himself.

"Hello, Atchan," he said softly.

"Hello, Kin-chan," said Atsushi. "You know, I'd hoped it would be you."

Kinshiro's eyes widened. "You guessed it was me... and you came anyway?"

"Of course," said Atsushi. "I've missed you, you know."

 _Then why didn't you come back sooner? Why did you leave at all? Why do you spend all your time with those people when you could have been with me?_ Kinshiro swallowed hard.

"I've missed you, too," he said.

"You did?" Atsushi's expression was... hopeful. Had he not realized that Kinshiro had been waiting for him all this time?

Of course he hadn't. Kinshiro had spent the last several years going out of his way to snub Atsushi every chance he got. If Kinshiro was going to be honest, he had to admit that the mess was as much his fault as it was Atsushi's.

 _Maybe it's time to start over. Arima is right - I can't just let an opportunity to get what I want slip away._

"I did," he said. "I... I'm sorry. Even when I was pushing you away, I wanted you to come after me. I wish you had. Why didn't you try to win me back?"

Atsushi's face fell. "I don't know... No, I do know. I thought you were angry at me for something..."

"I was."

"And I thought if I pushed you about it, it would just make you more angry. I thought if I just left you alone, you'd calm down and tell me what was wrong, but you never did. What were you so angry about?"

Kinshiro looked down. "Nothing. Something stupid."

He felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. "If it hurt you that much, it wasn't nothing and it wasn't stupid," said Atsushi. "It must have been important to you."

Kinshiro felt his cheeks warm, and he wasn't sure it was the touch or Atsushi's words that caused it.

"I was jealous because you invited Yufuin to go for curry with you instead of me," he muttered.

"But you don't like curry. You've always hated curry," Atsushi pointed out. His tone was gentle - not contradicting him, just probing for an explanation.

"I know," said Kinshiro. "But I would have come anyway, to keep you company. I wanted to be asked."

"Well, I know it's late," said Atsusi, "but I did ask to meet you today, didn't I?"

"You didn't know it was me," Kinshiro pointed out, but he could feel himself smiling.

Atsushi laughed. "That's true. So, is it okay for us to hang out together again?"

Kinshiro briefly weighed this request against his work with the Student Council, his involvement in the Caerula Adamas, and the knowledge that anywhere Atsushi went, all his ragtag friends would go too. Yesterday he would have called all of those things important matters, things that demanded his utmost consideration. Now they seemed so trivial as to be ridiculous.

"I'd like that," he said.

Atsushi beamed and slid into the chair across from Kinshiro. "Great. So, tell me, did you finish that book you were telling me about last night?"

"Almost," said Kinshiro. "I just reached the part where..."

And just like that, they were friends again. For at least that afternoon, it was as if they had never been apart at all. Afterwards, Kinshiro couldn't remember what they talked about, only that they went through two pots of tea and a plate of cookies without seeming to notice what they were doing. Kinshiro couldn't remember the last time he'd said so many words at once. In fact, they lingered so long that a waitress began giving them despairing looks every time she passed their table.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome," Atsushi observed, noticing where Kinshiro's eyes had been straying. He glanced at his watch and winced. "No wonder - we've been here for hours."

"I'll leave her a tip that will make up for it," Kinshiro promised. In the mood he was in, he was ready to leave her a tip that would pay her rent for the month. "So... I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Atsushi smiled hopefully. "Do you want to walk around town a little? I don't have to be anywhere else today."

Kinshiro felt himself warm all over. Atsushi didn't want to leave him yet.

"Let's do that," he agreed.

So the two of them strolled up and down the city's side streets, sometimes peering in windows, sometimes chatting. Mostly, thought, they just walked, enjoying the comfort of each other's presence. To Kinshiro, it was as if he were floating through a warm golden haze, like a leaf drifting on a sunlit river. He felt light, almost giddy, ready to laugh at the smallest things. He wished that he could make the afternoon stretch on forever.

"Ah, look!" said Atsushi, pointing at something in a shop window.

Kinshiro roused from his peaceful daze. "What is it?"

"Just wait a moment," said Atsushi. "I'll be right back!"

"What...?" Kinshiro began, but Atsushi was already ducking into the shop.

Kinshiro stood wondering on the sidewalk, more confused than annoyed, as he watched Atsushi grab something off a rack and carry it up to the counter. Whatever it was, it was too small for him to get a good look at it. The shopkeeper dropped Atsushi's items into a paper bag and held it out to him, and a few seconds later, Atsushi came bounding out again, proudly bearing his purchase.

"I could have paid for that," said Kinshiro.

Atsushi laughed. "You paid for our tea already. Besides, I wanted to give you something. A present."

He opened the bag and took out a little enameled metal charm on a strap. It was in the shape of a cheerfully smiling frog. Kinshiro took it into his hands as if it were a priceless relic.

" _Kaeru,_ " he said thoughtfully. It meant "frog", but it could also mean "to return".

"A souvenir," said Atsushi. "See, I got one for myself, too."

"You got us matching keychains. That's so juvenile," said Kinshio, but he was smiling. "Thank you."

Kinshiro clipped the little frog to his bag. It glittered green and gold in the sunlight. Atsushi did the same.

"There. Now we match," he said. "And if we get separated again, we'll have something to remind us to find a way to come back."

"I'll treasure it," said Kinshiro solemnly.

Atsushi looked at the time again and sighed a little. "And I really should be getting home soon, or I'll be late for dinner. But I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?"

"Absolutely," said Kinshiro.

"Good. I really have missed you, Kin-chan. I'm glad we worked things out."

Atsushi made his goodbyes and turned and started down the sidewalk. He'd only made it a few steps, however, before he paused and looked back.

"You know," he said, "my friends and I usually hang out at the Kurotama bath house after school," he said. "I'm sure if you wanted to join us sometime, we'd be glad to have you."

"I'll keep it in mind," said Kinshiro.

Privately, he didn't think he was ever going to want to spend any more time around the Earth Defense Club than was necessary to stay on good terms with Atsushi. He certainly didn't think he wanted to get into a bath with them all.

But it was nice to be asked.

 **To Be Continued...**


	3. Crash

"Good morning, President!"

Kinshiro raised a hand in acknowledgment. "Good morning, Arima. You're punctual as always."

Arima smiled as he fell into step alongside Kinshiro. Akoya, who had been leaning against a lamp post and checking his hair in a small folding mirror, straightened up and came to join them.

"And you're running behind," he observed. "How late did you stay up last night talking to your friend Kinugawa?"

Kinshiro tried not to let his discomfiture show on his face. He hadn't realized he'd been that obvious. But then again, perhaps it had only been a guess. Akoya could be remarkably shrewd at times, and it wouldn't take much observation to figure out what Kinshiro had been doing with his free time lately. Over the last few days, he had been spending as much time around Atsushi as he could reasonably get away with. He had years of lost time to catch up on, and between his work with the Student Council and Atsushi's own social life, whatever time they could find together was precious.

Kinshiro had even unbent enough one afternoon to let Atsushi coax him into the Kurotama bath house. That had been something of an eye-opener all on its own. He'd gone in expecting something one step shy of a health hazard, but he'd actually found it oddly comfortable. Atsushi's friends had welcomed him more warmly than he'd ever imagined they would. He would have expected to either be treated with distant deference, or else snubbed entirely, but after a bit of initial teasing, they'd more or less accepted his presence and treated him like he'd always been there.

Atsushi's friends had come as a surprise, too. The little blond first-year who had always seemed so irresponsible showed a surprising streak of professionalism where his family bath house was concerned. Kinshiro had been prepared to loathe Yufuin, and equally prepared to stoically tolerate him for Atsushi's sake, but the man was strangely fascinating in his own way - a philosopher of sorts, who noticed the remarkable in the everyday. Kinshiro had come away from that meeting in a pensive mood. He'd never quite understood what someone with Atsushi's intelligence and good breeding wanted with a crowd of rabble like that, but being there, seeing them together, he was starting to get an idea. If anyone had asked Kinshiro last month if he had friends at school, he'd have pointed to Arima and Akoya, but the truth was, he couldn't quite bring himself to completely trust them. He was constantly watching them for signs of betrayal, waiting for them to either try to seize power if they succeeded in their plans or cut ties with him if they failed. There was none of that watchfulness around Atsushi and his friends. They teased and taunted each other with no sign of fear that a wrong word would lead to rejection, no sense of jockeying their position. There was only absolute trust, and he found himself envying it just a little.

"How late did you stay up talking to your secret admirer?" he asked Akoya, going on the offensive, and was somewhat gratified to see Akoya's cheeks go slightly pink.

"I have so many admirers," said Akoya, raising his chin. "To which one might you be referring?"

 _Liar,_ Kinshiro thought, amused. There couldn't be that many people in the world who admired Akoya as much as he admired himself, or were at least willing to pretend they did.

"Maybe you should arrange to meet whoever it is," Arima suggested cheerfully. "It seems to have worked well for Kinshiro."

Akoya ducked his head. "Oh, no, I couldn't." Collecting himself, he added, "It's one thing to pass the time chatting online, but it's another thing entirely to mingle with commoners face to face."

Kinshiro translated deftly: Akoya was afraid that whatever persona he'd crafted for himself online wouldn't hold up once he met his admirer in person. He wouldn't be able to bear finding out that they didn't really like him once they got to know him, and it would be even worse if it turned out they had been lying about liking him the whole time as some sort of cruel prank.

"Perhaps we should find out who this person is," Kinshiro said slowly, "and scout him out to make sure he's fit company for you."

"That's a good idea," said Akoya, seizing on the offer with evident relief.

"So, will we be continuing with our project today?" asked Arima, with what sounded like completely idle curiosity. It might have been. Kinshiro had never been entirely sure what was motivating Arima to try to conquer the world - for all anyone else knew, he might have just been along for the ride. The thought gave Kinshiro an odd moment of perspective. He'd often wondered what Atsushi saw in the people he spent time with. Maybe other people wondered why these two spent time with Kinshiro.

Still, it was a good question. It had been several days since the Caerula Adamas' last attempt at world domination, and that had been fairly half-hearted. They'd targeted a notorious pessimist in the hopes that his wet-blanket personality might at least be a little tidier than the last monster. Sadly, his attitude had also meant that he didn't have much faith in his own ability to defeat a team of superheroes, and he'd been throughly trounced almost before he'd gotten started. Still, getting everything he touched sopping wet _had_ made things cleaner.

Yes, it was time for a renewed effort. Zundar was a surprisingly patient and supportive mentor, considering that he openly claimed to be an evil alien from Planet Evil. He'd been entirely understanding about their recurring failure to conquer the world, and equally supportive of Kinshiro taking a little time to renew bonds with his old friend. Still, his patience couldn't possibly be endless, and Kinshiro felt he should be setting a good example for the other two.

And yet, he found himself dragging his feet. For one thing, he couldn't help but feel that Atsushi would not approve of conquering the world. He was so gentle, so accepting. He'd never understand why the world needed to be taken in hand properly. At the same time, Kinshiro was starting to feel a marked lack of investment in the whole plot. It all seemed a little silly, now, like boys playing "King of the Castle" on the playground, just one big game of let's-pretend. He was having trouble imagining, now, just what he was going to do with a world once he had it.

"Perhaps," he said. "If we find someone suitable by the end of the school day, we'll use them. If not, we'll wait."

"That seems fair," said Akoya agreeably. So agreeably, in fact, that Kinshiro wondered if he was planning on avoiding looking for a target on purpose, just so he could continue basking in admirer's attention for a little longer.

 _Maybe we're all losing interest in this scheme,_ Kinshiro mused. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He hated to give up on anything, especially something he had already invested so much energy into.

Very well, then. He'd give it one more try, and he'd give it everything he had.

* * *

Atsushi tried to be discreet as he glanced at the time. He and his friends had gathered in the club room for their usual entertainments, and he didn't want them to get the idea he was anxious to get away from them. No one seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, anyway. Io had his laptop open in front of him and his tablet laid next to it, and kept glancing from one to the other. Atsushi watched him with a degree of fascination. He admired his friend's ability to multitask, which apparently extended to operating two different computer systems while participating in En's lecture of the day and studiously ignoring whatever Yumoto was doing to the poor Wombat.

Ryu leaned over Io's shoulder for a better view as Io manipulated the touchpad on his laptop with one hand and typed something into his tablet with the other.

"Who are you chatting with?" Ryu asked.

"Gero Akoya," said Io casually.

Ryu spluttered. "What? Why are you talking to him?"

"Because he's talking to me," said Io simply.

"So why is he talking to you?" Ryu asked. "And _don't_ say it's because you're talking to him."

"His family owns a multi-trillion yen financial institution," said Io. "That's reason enough for me. It turns out, he's surprisingly amiable if you talk to him the right way."

"Let me see that," said Ryu, snatching the device away. "Geez, have you been _flirting_ with him?"

"I've been flattering him. That's different," said Io. "Anyway, you flirt with people. Why shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, sure, but not with Gero. He's a jerk," said Ryu. He continued studying the screen. "Anyway, how do you know it's him? This just says Holy Angel."

"It's him," said Io. "His style is rather distinctive. Anyway, no one but Gero Akoya would be so eager to talk about Gero Akoya."

Ryu stared at the screen a moment longer before giving the tablet back to Io. "So let me get this straight - you're seducing Gero for his money?"

"That's not how I'd put it," said Io, a little defensively. "I prefer to think of myself as making a valuable contact."

Ryu shrugged. "Well, I don't think much of your taste, but I can't fault your methods. Maybe if he hangs out with you enough, he'll learn better manners."

"Thank you, I suppose," Io replied.

Atsushi smiled. "It's nice to see everyone getting along."

"Are you going to see your friend again today?" asked Yumoto, mercifully relaxing his grip on Wombat.

"For a while," said Atsushi. "We promised to have an early dinner together. I'll come join you at the bath house after that, probably. Maybe I can talk him into coming with me again."

"He's taking you to dinner? That's good," En opined. "Tell him I said he needs to make sure you eat something. You need to eat more. You're too thin."

Atsushi could only laugh. "That's a personal opinion. I'll tell him you said so anyway." He smiled. "I'm glad you're not jealous."

"Takes too much energy to be jealous," said En honestly. "Anyway, it's good you two are friends again. Maybe you can make him relax. If ever there was a guy who was wound too tightly..."

"You think everyone in the world is wound too tightly," said Io.

En shrugged. "Most people are. There aren't but so many things it's worth getting worked up about."

"I'll tell him you said that too," said Atsushi, amused. "I'll meet you guys at the Kurotama after we eat, all right?"

Everyone agreed that they'd look forward to seeing him there, and Atsushi strode out of the room, swinging his school bag casually in one hand. It was, he thought, rather odd to have multiple claims on his time this way. He hoped that with time and exposure, Kinshiro would feel more comfortable around his friends, and they'd be able to spend more time as a group. From what little Atsushi observed, the vice-president would follow Kinshiro's lead, and if Io was able to get onto Gero's good side...

 _It would be such a relief if we didn't have to keep defending our club from the Student Council,_ he thought. Aliens and monsters were quite enough to worry about.

As he reached the front door of the school, he paused long enough to text a quick message to Kinshiro, letting him know he was on his way to the restaurant they'd agreed upon. Almost immediately, he got a reply, saying that Kinshiro was wrapping up some student council business and would be running a few minutes behind, but he'd be along as soon as he could. Atsushi nodded and put his phone away.

 _I suppose it's no wonder he's so tense most of the time,_ he mused as he began ambling up the sidewalk. _He has an awful lot of responsibility._

Still, the least he could do was make sure there was a good table waiting for Kinshiro when he arrived. He set off at a brisk walk towards the restaurant.

He had very nearly made it when a sound caught his attention. That was stating the case mildly. One second, he'd been strolling through a peaceful city, the air filled only with the sounds of birds, passing cars, and quiet conversation. The next moment, there was an ear-shattering blast of sound that made Atsushi stumble and clap his hands over his ears. He emitted a few impolite words that thankfully couldn't be heard over the general ruckus. All around him, he could see other people rushing to get out of the blast zone, but all he could do was stand there, paralyzed, until the noise mercifully ceased. Atsushi straightened and looked around cautiously.

Yes, there it was, standing at the intersection behind him: a monster. This one appeared to be some sort of microphone monster, with arms and legs made of speakers linked together and made flexible by twists of wire.

"Oh, please, not now..." Atsushi groaned. He didn't think this boded anything good for his dinner date.

"So, you don't want to listen to me, huh?" the microphone bellowed. "That's so typical! No one ever listens to me! I am so sick of being ignored! Well, you're going to listen to me now!"

Fleetingly, Atsushi wondered just who this monster really was - which schoolmate had been sitting quietly all this time waiting for someone to notice him and provide a listening ear, only to be noticed by the Caerula Adamas instead. Then there was another blast of sound, a shockwave that threw him off his feet and sent him slamming into the railing of a café patio. He hit it so hard that he actually managed to bend it out of shape, and the point of one of the ornamental spikes jabbed deeply into his shoulder. Atsushi cried out in pain as he slumped down to the ground, stunned both by the noise and his injury. As he fell, his bag caught on the twisted metal fence, and in the silence that followed the sonic blast, he heard a metallic tinkling sound. His frog charm had gotten snagged and broken loose, and was now lying on the sidewalk a few inches away from Atsushi's nose.

"All right, that does it!" he said. "That was special!"

He tried to stand, and nearly fell over again. Whatever he'd done to his shoulder, it couldn't be good. He could see a splash of blood on the sidewalk where he'd fallen, and feel more trickling hotly down his back. His initial shock had passed, replaced by throbbing pain.

 _You'll feel better when you transform,_ he told himself. That gave him enough motivation to lever himself to his feet and cast a quick glance around the area. The noise from the monster seemed to have driven everyone to safer ground. Good. That meant there would be no one around to see what he did next.

An instant later, Battle Lover Epinard stood proudly beside the wreckage of what had been a rather nice patio until someone had thrown him at it. His shoulder still ached, but the power sustaining him made the pain manageable, and his friends would be here as soon as they figured out where the monster was. With the racket this thing was making, that probably wouldn't take long. Atsushi would have been willing to bet they were hearing those blasts all the way on top of Mt. Binan. All he had to do was hold on until they got here. He could handle a monster by himself for just a few minutes. He'd had enough practice with monsters by now. He'd be fine.

Then someone stepped around the corner, and he realized just how wrong he had been.

* * *

Kinshiro was fairly pleased with his afternoon's endeavors. The new monster he and his compatriots had created had proven to be a strong one as well as proactive. It hadn't been content to hang around the school grounds and make trouble, which Kinshiro appreciated. He loved Binan High, and he hadn't been happy about repeated structural damage inflicted by his creations. Far better for his newly fledged monster to go raise a ruckus somewhere else, where it wouldn't bother his students. He was only sorry that he'd already made plans for the afternoon. Still, with any luck, the monster would have finished off the Battle Lovers by the time his date was over and he could return to find his path to conquest cleared. That would be a nice end to a good day.

He was wrapped up enough in his planning that he didn't realize at first that something was wrong. It was surprisingly easy to tune out crashes and bangs when he knew exactly what was causing it and was confident in his ability to stop it if necessary. His only real worry was that the fight would come close enough to interfere with his dinner. He toyed with the idea of suggesting to Atsushi that they should go take cover somewhere safer, like his own house. It was far enough removed from the main part of town that it was unlikely to be the scene of any battles and tucked behind sturdy enough walls that he doubted even a monster would have the temerity to come in without permission. That was assuming that Atsushi hadn't already taken fright and run for cover. Kinshiro would honestly not have blamed him if he had decided he wasn't prepared to cope with a monster. Atsushi was one of the most non-combative people Kinshiro knew. He wasn't equipped to deal with a violent battle.

Then he walked around the corner and realized that maybe he should have been keeping a closer eye on his creature. Standing in front of him was the monster he'd created only a few minutes ago, ranting and raving, appropriately enough, about how no one had ever paid attention to him. A few yards away, standing amid the wreckage of what had been the café at which he'd been planning to have dinner, was Battle Lover Epinard. That would ordinarily not have been enough to make Kinshiro stop and stare.

What did make him stare was what was lying on the ground a few feet from where Epinard was standing. There was blood spattered on the sidewalk, enough that Kinshiro could see it clearly even from a distance. Lying next to the spill of blood was a leather satchel, the kind that most schoolboys at Binan used to carry their books. It looked like it had gotten snagged on the ruin of the fence, so that the little frog-shaped charm that had been attached to it had been ripped loose to land a few inches away.

"Atsushi..." he whispered, hardly able to make himself consider the evidence in front of him. There was Atsushi's bag, and there was a spray of blood, enough blood to indicate a serious injury, but there was no Atsushi. Kinshiro's gaze snapped up to glare at Epinard.

"Where is he?" he demanded. "Where is Atsushi?"

It was hard to see Epinard's expression through the haze that hid his face, but his posture was clearly defensive. "Ah, calm down, I can explain..."

" _Where is he?_ " Kinshiro shouted. "I need to go to him. Tell me where he is!"

"I... I can't," Epinard stammered.

Fury blazed up inside Kinshiro. Suddenly he was racing up the sidewalk without having consciously decided to. A flourish of one hand brought his Conquest Ring into view, and in a blur of shadow and golden light he shifted into the form of Chevalier Aurite. Before Epinard even had a chance to react, Aurite had drawn his sword and fired a blast of energy that sent the Battle Lover flying several yards to slam into the awning of the café. He fell down in a tangle of striped cloth and bent wire frame. Aurite bounded swiftly across the distance between them and seized Epinard by the collar, yanking him into the air.

"What kind of hero are you?" Aurite hissed. "You're supposed to save people! The one person in the world whose life matters to me and you couldn't protect him! What good are you? How dare you call yourself a hero when you can't save the one person I actually want you to protect?"

He didn't give Epinard a chance to answer. He flung the hero again, sending him careening across the patio, overturning chairs and tables as he flew. He landed in a dazed heap, arms and legs splayed. Kinshiro stalked towards him, sword gripped tightly in his hand. There was more blood on the ground now. Good. The Battle Lover _needed_ to be hurt. He could shed a little blood to make up for what had happened to Atsushi. The man wasn't even trying to fight back now, just lying there, apparently stunned. Aurite thought he could make out dark eyes behind the haze, staring fixedly at him.

"Don't do this," Epinard whispered. "You don't know what you're..."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Aurite snarled. "I'm giving you what you deserve."

In a fluid motion, he raised his sword and jammed it down into Epinard's unmoving body. He felt the resistance as it cut through muscle and viscera before finally spearing into the ground, heard the sudden gasp of agony. Aurite wrenched his blade free and watched with detachment as it dripped more red stains on the pavement. For all his talk about conquest and destroying his enemies, he had never actually thought about killing someone. He hadn't realized until that moment that he was capable of doing it. He supposed he should have felt something - horror, or elation, or satisfaction - but all he felt was a sort of resignation. Atsushi was dead. His enemy was dying. Epinard's death would not bring Atsushi back. He could destroy the Battle Lovers and conquer the world after this, and none of that was going to bring Atsushi back.

But Epinard wasn't dead yet. He gave another labored gasp and a shudder, and his outline seemed to waver. Then, impossibly, he wasn't there anymore. Atsushi was, bleeding profusely from a wound in his abdomen, face white with pain and blood loss. Aurite stared.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "What? No. This can't... no!"

"Sorry," said Atsushi hoarsely. "Couldn't tell you. You'd have known... my friends...

His friends. Of course. Kinshiro could see it clearly now - Atsushi and his four friends, the Earth Defense Club. It had been right in front of his face the whole time, and he'd been too blinded by his own preconceptions to even consider it. He hadn't wanted to think about it until it was too late, and now Atsushi was dying because he had refused to betray his friends' secrets.

He was dying because Kinshiro had been too dense to pay attention.

Aurite dropped to his knees and gathered Atsushi into his arms.

"It's all right. Just stay with me," he heard himself babbling. "It will be all right. I'll get you to help. Just hold on..."

Atsushi looked up at him with unfocused eyes.

"Kin-chan..." he whispered, and passed out.

 **To Be Continued...**


	4. Reboot

Kinshiro stared at the bleeding, unresponsive body in front of him. This wasn't right. It had to be some kind of cruel joke. An hour ago, Atsushi had been well and happy and planning to spend the afternoon with him. They were supposed to be having dinner together right now, somewhere safe and far away from all this awfulness. Today was supposed to be a good day. They were supposed to be _happy_.

"No, don't do this. Stay with me!" Kinshiro could hear his voice going thready with suppressed fear. There was dampness on his cheeks, though he couldn't remember when he'd started to cry. His mind was whirling. He had to get help - the hospital was on the other side of town, but at the rate he could move in his transformed state, it would take only instants to get there, but he wasn't sure Atsushi's battered body could take the strain, and...

" _Stop ignoring me!_ " shouted a voice like the shriek of feedback. Aurite winced. Right. There was a monster. Because obviously what he needed now was more complications.

"You've done enough here!" he shouted at the creature. "Go bother someone else!"

"Oh, so I'm _bothering_ you, am I? That's so typical!" the monster complained. "Every time I try to speak up, I get told to be quiet and go away. Maybe you should have thought about my feelings before you decided to have your little drama here..."

"I don't care about your problems!" Aurite snapped. He snatched up his sword and threw a blast of gold light at the monster, propelling it to the other side of the street. It crushed an ATM when it landed and shattered a shop window with one outflung arm, but the monster itself didn't seem to be particularly damaged. It surged back to its feet and began lumbering toward him again.

 _Damn it, the Battle Lovers made this look easy,_ Aurite thought. Where were they, anyway? Why weren't they...

There was a soft _swish_ , as of something moving very fast, and then the patter of multiple hard-soled boots. Aurite looked up, unsure what to hope for. If the rest of his team had arrived, maybe he could get them to stall the monster long enough for him to get Atsushi some help. On the other hand, if the Battle Lovers had arrived, surely they would deal with the monster, but...

The Battle Lovers skidded to a stop to survey the scene in front of them. Then one of them, the blue one - what was he called? Azure? Cerulean? - bellowed "Atsushi!"

Aurite bit back a groan. Of course they would show up now, just in time to see him standing over the broken body of their friend, holding a bloody sword.

"This isn't what..." he began, and gave up, because obviously no one was going to listen to him, and anyway, what could he say? That yes, he had killed their friend but he hadn't meant to? That was obviously going to go over well. He could have screamed. All his life, the one thing he'd sought was control, and this whole situation was spiraling rapidly out of it.

"You take the monster," Cerulean was saying to his friends. "I'll deal with _him_."

The others nodded and launched themselves at the monster. That was good. Maybe they would get it under control. Cerulean, however, launched himself at Aurite, and that was bad, because as long as they were fighting, no one was getting Atsushi _help_. There was no time to do anything about that now, though - Cerulean was coming at Aurite with a ferocity he never would have imagined, firing off blast after blast of blue energy that forced Aurite to devote every scrap of attention he had on defending himself.

 _Distraction, I need a distraction..._

Frantically, he raced through what he knew of Atsushi's friends. He'd always done his best _not_ to notice them, up until the past few days - an oversight he was now heartily regretting. The weird filter wasn't making things easier. Still, he could make a few features out, if only vaguely. Who did he know who was tallish, blond, and devoted to Atsushi? Strange as it seemed, there was only one answer possible. Aurite was amazed. He never would have credited Yufuin with the capacity for passionate rage. He barely believed that Yufuin had the capacity for independent movement. But who else could it be? Aurite decided to take the risk.

"Yufuin En, will you stop trying to kill me and just listen for a minute?" he snapped.

Cerulean actually paused for a moment. Aurite took the opportunity to sheathe his sword.

"I don't want to fight," he said.

Even through the filter, Cerulean looked dubious. "How did you know my name?"

"I know," said Aurite, "because you're the only person who cares about Atchan as much as I do."

"You... what?"

Well, blank confusion was better than rage. Aurite pressed on.

"He's not dead yet," said Aurite, "but he will be soon if we don't get him some help _now_ , so stop fighting with me and _help_."

Cerulean looked stunned for a moment longer, then nodded. "Right."

He scanned the battlefield, looking for something. He must have found it, because he stopped looking and shouted, "Hey, you! Get over here and make yourself useful!"

It took a moment for Aurite to realize who he was talking to. Lurking off to one side was Mr. Tawarayama, the elderly and obviously slightly barmy professor. Aurite blinked, unable to comprehend what the man was doing there. Yes, he had to have had some inkling of what was going on, since he'd been the one to sign the Defense Club's permission slip, but what he was doing here in the middle of a battlefield, or what Cerulean thought he could do to help, was a mystery.

Then the weird pink animal he'd been lugging around since the start of this entire Battle Lovers debacle wiggled free of the man's arms, and Mr. Tawarayama collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. Aurite blinked.

 _It's an alien, like Zundar,_ he realized. _Why didn't I realize?_ And then, _Why didn't Zundar say something? He must have known. Why wouldn't he tell us?_

No time to think about that now. The pink animal was snuffling around Atsushi's fallen form, flat nose twitching frantically. Aurite and Cerulean crouched down on either side of him.

"Can you do something?" Cerulean asked. "With your high-tech alien whatevers? Can you fix him?"

"I think so," said the wombat. "Maybe. Probably."

"You'd better!" Cerulean snapped. "And not like you did with Mr. Tawarayama, either!"

"I won't do that!" the wombat protested. "He's not dead yet! It's easier if they're not dead!"

He pressed himself against Atsushi's body, and odd greenish lights began to play over both of them. Aurite gasped and instinctively reached to pry the animal off, but Cerulean reached out to stop him.

"Let him work," he said. "He's the only chance Atsushi's got."

Aurite scowled. "I hate it."

Cerulean's voice was grave as he said, "Me too."

The green lights continued to crackle and pop. The wombat said, "His powers have been disrupted by the shock of his injury, but they're still partly in effect. He's de-transformed because all of his powers are being channeled into keeping him alive for now. I'm going to see if I can jump-start them back into full strength. If I can do that, he'll be able to recover. If nothing else, he won't get any worse as long as I'm holding him together."

Cerulean nodded and stood up. Aurite reluctantly followed his example.

"Can we trust him?" Aurite asked.

Cerulean shook his head. "No idea, but what choice have we got?"

"You two aren't _listening!_ " the monster shrieked.

Aurite and Cerulean instinctively dropped into defensive crouches, managing to brace themselves just before the attack hit. Dodging was not an option, not when moving would leave Atsushi in the way of the blast. Aurite gritted his teeth and tried to force himself to stay steady as waves of sonic energy crashed around him.

"This is all your fault, you know!" Cerulean shouted at him.

"Don't you think I know that?" Aurite shouted back. "Do your job and get rid of this monster!"

"It's your monster - you get rid of it!"

"Both of you go do something!" said the wombat irritably. "You're distracting me!"

"Fine," Cerulean muttered. "Come on. Let's get out of here so Wombat can work."

The two of them went bounding across the street to join the other Battle Lovers. Aurite gave Cerulean a sidelong look as they ran.

"Your wombat's name is Wombat?" he asked.

Cerulean shook his head. "No, but if you can figure out what his name actually _is_ , you're doing better than the rest of us."

The fight did not appear to be going well. The monster, in fact, appeared to be having a wonderful time having so many people paying attention to it, and was cheerfully and noisily making the most of the situation. The repeated blasts of sound were making everyone dizzy and disoriented, not to mention rather battered from being hurled into buildings every few seconds. None of their attacks seemed to do more than momentarily inconvenience the thing, and even the addition of two more people to the fight didn't seem to be helping much.

"Why aren't you people doing anything?" Aurite complained. "It never takes you this long to finish off a monster!"

"Yeah, but not when we're a member short!" Vesta shouted back at him. "It takes all five of us to do the Love Shower thing, and that's the only way I know for sure to get rid of a monster."

"Anyway, it's your monster," Sulfur pointed out in a more reasonable tone. "Don't you know how to make it go away if you want to?"

"I've never needed to before!" Aurite replied. "The only one who really understands how it works is..."

Then he trailed off, realizing what he should have thought of sooner. Zundar was the one who had taught them how to create monsters. He had given them the power to do so. Surely he would know how to deactivate one of his own monsters. His free hand strayed to the fold of his jacket where the hedgehog would appear when he wanted to speak to his followers.

"Zundar!" he shouted. "Come here! I need you! Tell me how to deactivate a monster!"

Then he waited, heart pounding. Surely his lurking suspicions had to be wrong. Zundar was on his side and always had been. He had never been anything but supportive and understanding towards his team, always forgiving them when they failed and offering words of encouragement when they were downhearted. Surely he would come through for Aurite now...

"You can't," said a voice.

Aurite blinked and slowly turned around. That had not been Zundar's commanding bass. This was higher pitched, amused, and vaguely familiar. It belonged to a young man with dark hair and glasses, who was standing a few yards away with an MP3 recording device held casually in one hand. Behind him stood a lanky long-haired figure with a camera balanced on his shoulder and, for some bizarre reason, a fishbowl with a large goldfish in it tucked under his free arm. Ordinarily, that would have been enough to command his attention right there, but at that moment, the only thing he could bring himself to focus on was the small green form perched on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"Zundar?" said Aurite hesitantly.

Battle Lover Scarlet shook his head. "His name's not Zundar. That's Kinosaki Kou, from the school's Press Society."

"Press Society?" Aurite repeated, looking quizzically at him. "The school hasn't got a Press Society."

"Then who the hell are they?" Vesta demanded, pointing at the two reporters.

"I don't know, but Binan High hasn't got a Press Society. Not an official one, anyway," said Aurite firmly. "Trust me, I know. There used to be a journalism club, but they only had two members and their advisor quit, so the council shut them down. There hasn't been such a thing at our school in months."

Kinosaki smiled widely. "Yes, and I did warn you that there would be consequences for that. The pen is mightier than the sword, you know, especially when that pen writes the newspaper column. There's no force in the universe more powerful than the press."

Aurite glared. "Zundar, explain this!"

"The time for giving orders is over, da," said Zundar. "You've done very well, da, but now it's time for us to take over."

"What do you mean?" asked Aurite, feeling the blood drain from his face.

"He means we're done with you." The goldfish had hauled himself up over the lip of his bowl and was leaning his chin casually on his fins, looking every inch the spectator. "The boy is right. The monster can't be stopped except by a Love Shower, and the Battle Lovers can't do a Lover Shower without all five of their members. You've taken one of them down, so that means it's a wrap. Game over. Well done, kid, you did it. You conquered the world. I knew you had it in you!"

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Vesta, who was obviously not the type who minced words. Aurite guessed that he was probably Zaou Ryu, the feisty second-year whose lack of manners annoyed Akoya so much. He rounded on Aurite and asked, "Are you guys working together or something?"

"No! I have no idea what's going on here," said Aurite. He rounded on Zundar. "What are you talking about? I want answers!"

"The time has come for the terms of our partnership to be renegotiated, da," said Zundar. "Director Hireashi, would you care to explain?"

"Sure thing," said the fish. "See, kiddo, the thing is..."

The fish explained. Everyone listened. Even the monster was quiet, which, oddly enough, was the only thing that convinced Aurite that what he was hearing was true. All this time, he'd thought he was the one in control, and it turned out that it wasn't him, or even Zundar, but a goldfish that had been calling all the shots, and for a _television show,_ , no less. He'd been made a fool of.

 _No, be honest. I made a fool of myself._ He hadn't wanted to rule the world. All he'd ever wanted was to have Atsushi back, and that had always been his for the asking, if only he'd been willing to bend his pride just a little. He'd only thought he'd wanted the world because it had seemed like the only thing big enough to fill the gulf losing Atsushi had left. But it wasn't. If Atsushi died today, not all the worlds in the universe would be enough to fill that void.

"So what are you going to do now?" Aurite asked dully.

"Well, first we're going to finish this fight scene," said Hireashi casually, "but it doesn't really matter how that turns out. We can clean it all up in editing later. The real showstopper was you stabbing the boy there. That really put our ratings through the roof! Now the only real question is, will you make a heroic stand defending him to the last, or will you destroy your enemies for a dramatic victory? Either way is good by me."

"I am going to rip your fins off!" Aurite snarled.

The fish gave a gurgly chuckle. "Oh no, that's not in the script."

It raised one fin and managed a surprisingly authoritative snap. Aurite had just enough time to wonder how he'd done it without any fingers before a roar behind him he turned around just in time to duck as the monster fired a blast at the place where his head had been an instant before. He turned his duck into a somersault and came up again with sword drawn, but he had his doubts about how effective anything he did was going to be. If Zundar and his friends were telling the truth, and he had no choice but to believe they were, his only hope was that he and the Battle Lovers could keep this monster contained long enough for a pink alien wombat to somehow restore Atsushi enough that he'd be able to fight. Not good odds.

Kinosaki was brandishing his recorder and cheering, "Come on, monster! This is your big chance! You're on intergalactic TV! It's your time to shine!"

Apparently that was just the encouragement the monster needed. It gave a roar that caused every window on the block to shatter and every human to cover their ears. Cracks spread up the sides of buildings. With a great creaking and grinding, large chunks of masonry came raining down on the assembled warriors. In all the dust and panic, Aurite tried to find a safe place to escape to, but there was so much noise and he couldn't see...

A ten-foot wide slab of brick came slamming down on the place where Aurite had been standing. He had a confused image of it receding from him, and realized belatedly that a sturdy silver chain had wrapped itself around his middle and was hauling him swiftly away like a fish on a reel. He came to rest safely in the arms of Chevalier Argent, who deftly untangled him and set him gently back down on the street.

"Sorry we're late," said Chevalier Pearlite, with unusual humility. "We had no idea things were going so badly."

Argent nodded. "We were just relaxing in the student council room, having a nice cup of tea, when this strange red-headed man with an axe burst in and started telling us the most extraordinary things... We didn't believe a word of it until he helped us find the hidden cameras."

Pearlite clenched a fist, looking deeply offended. "Stupid alien technology..."

"Even so," Argent agreed. "But he explained the situation quite throughly and told us that he thought there might be trouble brewing here, and someone needed to come sort it out. So, what can we do to help?" he concluded.

Aurite was still weighing his options when he was interrupted by Kinosaki, who had sauntered up to thrust his microphone into Aurite's face.

"So, now that you're all here, perhaps you could provide us with a few sound bites," he said brightly. "For example, how does it feel knowing you just killed your best friend? Any regrets? Do you feel foolish for not guessing his identity sooner?"

For a moment, Aurite simply could not speak. A small, detached part of his mind was thinking, _I don't believe he just asked me that._ He took a long, shuddering breath.

"Take your time," said Kinosaki complacently. "This is for your fans."

Aurite turned slightly to face his companions. "Argent?"

"Yes, sir?" said Argent, eyes bright with anticipation at being asked to serve.

"Hurt him," he said. "Hurt him a lot, but don't kill him. I'm going to want to do that myself as soon as there's time."

Argent beamed. "Absolutely!"

He drew his sword and began advancing on Kinosaki. The young reporter, finding himself being menaced by a disturbingly cheerful-looking man with a sword, began backing frantically away.

"Wait, what are you...?" he stammered.

"This will go faster if you hold still," Argent advised him pleasantly. "I'm sure you don't want this to go on any longer than necessary."

Kinosaki emitted a high-pitched shriek and took off running, with Argent in hot pursuit.

Sulfur looked at Aurite quizzically. "Is he really going to...?"

"Yes," said Aurite firmly. "I have learned that when it comes to dealing with him, I should never ask for anything I don't actually want. If I wished for the treasures of King Tut, you'd be reading in the paper tomorrow about a daring midnight robbery at the museum and Arima would be walking around looking pleased with himself."

"That must be very useful," Sulfur observed.

"You have no idea."

Kinosaki, meanwhile, was diving for cover behind his photographer.

"Save me!" he wailed. "Hireashi, do something! He's going to stab me!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" the fish answered. He sounded bored by the whole thing.

"I don't know! Something!" Kinosaki wailed. "I thought we were on the same team!"

"Why would you want to be on their team?" asked Scarlet, momentarily distracted from the monster. "They're the bad guys!"

"I don't care," said Kinosaki. He made a lunge, putting Scarlet between himself and Arima's sword. "He promised he'd make me the greatest journalist on Earth - the only person on the planet to ever have a story with intergalactic coverage! I'm going to be more famous than anyone in the world has ever been!"

"That's a ridiculous reason to do anything," said Sulfur. "Fame alone is worthless unless you market it properly. I really don't think you've thought this plan all the way through."

"That's your opinion!" Kinosaki snapped. "Look, you're the heroes! You're supposed to fight the Caerula Adamas, not let them poke holes in people! Help me out here!"

"Sorry, a little busy right now!" Vesta shouted. "Maybe if there wasn't a _monster_ in our way..."

The monster fired off another blast, and the Battle Lovers scrambled to get out of the way, leaving Kinosaki with no more protection. Arima brought down his sword and narrowly missed him as he dove out of the way.

"Hireashi!" he wailed.

"All right, all right," Hireashi muttered. "Zundar! Help the kid out! You know what to do."

"Yes, sir!" Zundar replied.

He jumped down from the perch on the photographer's shoulder, where he'd been observing the ruckus, and landed in the middle of the pavement. His spines began to bristle, and a faint glow surrounded him. Then two spines rose from his back to spin gently in the air. Kinosaki's eyes widened, and even the placid photographer began to look uneasy.

"Wait!" Kinosaki blurted. "What are you...?"

"You want to be famous, kid?" said Hireashi. "Congratulations! We're gonna make you a star!"

Kinosaki had just enough time to yelp before the needles launched, burying themselves in the throats of the reporter and his partner. Wavering purple and red lights surrounded them, and the Battle Lovers and Caerula Adamas all drew back. Even the monster stopped what it was doing to watch as their forms warped and wavered.

"I didn't know he could do that without our help," Pearlite murmured.

"I think it's safe to say there's a lot about Zundar we didn't know," Aurite answered grimly.

The lights cleared. For a few brief seconds, Aurite could see the monsters standing where two reporters had been. One of them was now some sort of walking video camera, scuttling around on tripod legs, while the other had become a much larger version of the handheld voice recorder that Kinosaki had been carrying earlier. He had only enough time to absorb this, however, before Zundar released a third needle. This one hovered for a moment before splitting into fragments and driving into each of the three monsters. Their outlines began to blur, and then slide towards each other, merging like drops of water rolling down a pane of glass.

"Oh, terrific," Vesta muttered. "Just what we needed - a freakin' giant mecha."

It was indeed a giant mecha. It was three times the height of the original monster, with a camera for the head, the recorder for a trunk, and speakers for its limbs. One of its massive hands wielded a giant microphone as a club. Aurite could honestly not decide if it was terrifying or the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen. He could be sure of this, though: it was very big, and it didn't look like it was feeling particularly friendly. If the seven of them together hadn't been enough to take down a single small monster, what were they going to be able to do against this?

For the first time, real despair seized Kinshiro as the depth of the trouble he was in began to dawn on him. They weren't going to be able to stop this, and they couldn't run away without abandoning Atsushi, something he wasn't willing to do, and he doubted the Battle Lovers would do that, either. He hadn't just put Atsushi in danger, he'd endangered everyone Atsushi cared about, and it was all because he'd been stupid enough to listen to a talking hedgehog when it told him it would make him ruler of the world. In retrospect, he found himself wondering why he'd ever listened.

 _I'm sorry, Atsushi. This is all my fault. I've done the wrong thing every step of the way..._

Then he set his jaw and adjusted his grip on his sword. So he'd done everything wrong? Fine. So be it.

Now was the time for him to make it right.

 **To Be Continued...**


	5. Upgrade

Looming over the gathered boys, the monster took a lumbering step forwards, as if intending to crush them all under one of its ponderous feet. It stumbled on a parked car, sending it skidding across the road. The monster watched bemusedly as the car slammed into a nearby lamp post. Something about its posture suggested that it hadn't been expecting that to happen.

"Uh, guys," said Cerulean, "I _really_ don't think we can tackle this without Epinard..."

"Then we need to get him back on his feet," said Aurite firmly.

He bounded across the street to land next to Wombat, who was still frantically doing whatever it was he was trying to do, green lights crackling and popping all around him until his fur stood on end. Aurite was relieved to see that the bleeding seemed to have stopped, and Atsushi's chest still rose and fell with shallow breaths. He didn't seem to be getting any worse, but he was obviously a long way from well.

"Can't you hurry it up?" Aurite demanded.

Wombat gave him a nervous look. "I'm trying! This isn't easy! If you want me to hurry, I'm going to need a lot more power to draw on."

"Then we'll just have to get you some," said Aurite. He looked over his shoulder. "Everyone, get over here! That means you too, Battle Lovers!"

The Battle Lovers looked dubiously at each other. Cerulean was the first to move.

"It's for Atsushi," he said, and raced across the rubble to join Aurite. The others followed him, gathering in a loose circle around their fallen friend. Aurite nodded, satisfied.

"If you need more power, take it from all of us," he told Wombat. "Between the seven of us, we must have enough."

Wombat looked up thoughtfully, then nodded. "Battle Lovers, hold out your Love Sticks!"

The Battle Lovers obediently extended their wands. Aurite glanced at his companions, who nodded and wordlessly held out their swords, touching the tips to those of the wands. Wombat raised one paw, and immediately Aurite felt something, like a faint electrical hum, running through the hilt of the sword. As the hum slowly built, it seemed to spread through his entire body, drawing power from sources he hadn't realized he had. He closed his eyes, trying to focus, to force all that energy where he wanted it to go.

 _Help Atsushi. Give him strength. Bring him back to me. I'll spend the rest of my life making this up to him and be glad to do it, if only he'll come back..._

There was a surge, powerful enough that it was all Aurite could do to stay on his feet, and a flash of light so bright that even with his eyes closed, he was dazzled. Blinking, he opened his eyes to see that the light had gathered itself around Atsushi, pure and white and gleaming like moonlight on snow. Slowly, Atsushi began to rise off the ground, until he was hovering upright a few inches off the cracked pavement. The lights began to coalesce on his skin, until they had formed a new version of his Battle Lover uniform, this one completely white. Then, with a final flare, they gathered at his back and became two glistening white wings. Everyone stared.

"An angel?" said Scarlet.

"Did he die?" Vesta blurted.

"He's not dead!" said Wombat, annoyed.

Cerulean turned to glare at him. "You keep saying that and nobody believes you."

"He's not dead!" Wombat insisted. "That power infusion was strong enough to unlock his More Better mode! He's back and better than ever!"

It seemed to be true. Atsushi's wings twitched slightly, then spread slowly their full extent, and he opened his eyes. He looked around wonderingly, clearly with no idea of what had just happened to him. Kinshiro felt relief wash over him until he was limp with it. Later Atsushi would probably hate him for what he'd done. Probably he would never want to speak to Kinshiro again. For now, though, Atsushi was alive, and Kinshiro couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome back," he said.

Vesta gave a whoop. "We're back in business! Let's get this party started!"

Atsushi blinked at him, clearly puzzled. "What exactly are we doing?"

There was a crash somewhere nearby. The monster had apparently gotten bored with whatever they were doing and was trying to knock a building apart. It wasn't doing the most effective job. Apparently having three minds in one body hadn't done much for its ability to function. Still, the sheer size of it was enough to do a fair amount of damage, if only by accident.

"Oh," said Atsushi. "That."

Wombat was the first to rally.

"Well, what are you all sitting around staring at?" he shouted. "Everyone, use your More Better modes!"

The Battle Lovers responded to this with an alacrity that told Kinshiro that these were people who were so used to getting ridiculous requests from a pink animal that they didn't even think about it anymore. Kinshiro shrugged. The creature had said "everyone", so...

And the Wombat must have been right, because when he reached for the power, it was _there_ , rising eagerly to his call, as if it had always been waiting for him to look for it, clean and strong and full of vitality. If he had known he had such a power, he never would have done things any other way. It was as if he'd been drinking from a stagnant puddle before, and this was his first taste of fresh clear spring water.

 _So this is the power of love,_ he thought distantly. No wonder his monsters always looked so happy after they'd been freed, if it felt anything like this.

And speaking of monsters...

The mecha had finally noticed that it had airborne company, in a form of a whole flock of winged superheroes. It took a lumbering step forward, taking a swing with its microphone mace in Argent's direction. He dodged easily and fired off several blasts of silvery energy from the tip of his sword. It didn't do much obvious damage, but the mecha-monster bellowed in pain and tried to find room to dodge. Kinshiro found himself smiling. That was Arima for you. No matter what happened, he would still find a way to try to follow orders.

"Hey, monster!" shouted Scarlet. "Up here!"

The monster raised its ponderous head, only to get a blast of red glitter in its single mechanical eye for its troubles. Other blasts, fired by the Battle Lovers and Caerula Adamas alike, rained down on it.

"This isn't right!" it wailed. "You weren't supposed to be the stars!"

Scarlet shook his head. "You've got it all wrong. Being famous is fun, but it's no good if you never let anyone get to know you. It's better to have one person who really cares about you than to have the whole world know your name. Instead of trying to be famous, you should be trying to make friends!"

"He's right," said Aurite gravely. "The good regard of one person who truly matters to you is worth more than the idolization of a million strangers. You should learn that, before it's too late for you."

 _Just like it's too late for me..._

A hand touched his shoulder. He turned, surprised, to see Atsushi hovering next to him.

"It's never too late to realize you've made a mistake," he said. "Or to start putting it right."

Kinshiro stared at him in disbelief, not sure what to say.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. Scarlet had taken over.

"Yeah, that's it!" he said. "Come on, guys! Let's show these guys what we can do together!"

He raised his wand, and the others copied his motion. Without thinking about it, Kinshiro did the same, adding his own power to the others'. He felt all their blending powers gathering around him like the electricity of a rising storm. As Scarlet raised his wand, the sky above him began to fill with the familiar cotton-candy clouds.

"More Better Love Shower!" Scarlet exclaimed, and the air was suddenly filled with sparkling raindrops. As they pattered gently down on the monster, they seemed to fill the world with a gentle warmth and the smell of flowers. Kinshiro had never been so close to the Love Shower before. He had always wondered how something that seemed to harmless could be enough to stop a monster in his tracks, but now, just brushing the edge of it, he began to understand. It made him wonder if he would ever feel anything like this ever again.

The monster, confronted by this literal outpouring of emotion, swayed on the spot, looking dazed. It dropped to its knees, staring up at the falling raindrops as if they were the most incredible thing in the world. Then, in a puff of pink smoke, there was no monster there at all, only three teenaged boys sprawled in various ungainly poses, their faces suffused with bliss.

"Love is seriously over!" Scarlet declared, looking satisfied.

Kinshiro slanted a cautious look at Atsushi. Atsushi wasn't looking at him. He was whooping and cheering with the other Battle Lovers, congratulating them on their victory.

 _Yes,_ Kinshiro thought. _Maybe it is._

The chaos of the afternoon wasn't over, though. Defeating the monster solved the immediate problem, but there were still a few loose ends to wrap up. Fortunately, they didn't take very long. It seemed that losing his entire media force and having his hidden cameras destroyed by an angry man with an axe had put Hireashi in some difficulties, and his superiors didn't seem to be in any hurry to send him any new equipment. That, plus the fact that the entire Caerula Adamas had decided to throw in their lot with the Battle Lovers, meant their television program had come to a complete stop.

"I should have known we couldn't trust anyone who likes _snails_ ," said Arima, dripping disapproval.

Kinshiro nodded, if not in strict agreement, than at least in sympathy. He'd had quite a few stern words with Zundar over his role in this situation, words that had been backed up with some emphatic gestures with his sword. That had felt good. He was still not feeling very pleased about the way this afternoon had unfolded, and it was nice to have a legitimate target to take out his feelings on. Now, though, the aliens had climbed into their spaceship and vanished into the ether, after promising repeatedly that they would never, ever pull a stunt like this again. Kinshiro felt that was only fair. He and his comrades had found themselves obligated to make a few similar promises before the Battle Lovers were satisfied - promises that he had been only too happy to make.

Even if not everyone felt quite the same way.

"I suppose this means we won't be ruling the world after all," said Akoya, rather wistfully, after he had powered down.

"Not on my watch," said Kinshiro sternly.

"I know, I know," said Akoya, "but it would have been nice..."

"Geez," muttered Zaou, who seemed to dislike Akoya as intensely as Akoya disliked him, "what's this guy's problem, anyway? We just beat the badguys together, and already he's trying to go and ruin it."

"Akoya isn't what you'd call a people person," said Arima, rather apologetically. "Surprisingly, he improves on acquaintance."

"He does, actually," said Naruko to Zaou. "I've been telling you. You just have to know how to talk to him."

Akoya looked doubtfully at Io. "But I haven't been talking to you. I don't think we've said a dozen words to each other in the last month."

"I wouldn't say that," said Io. "We've been chatting online every night for the last week."

"That was you?" Akoya blurted. Then, "You knew it was me? How did you know it was me? Why didn't you say something?"

"You seemed to be having a nice time pretending," said Io, "and I didn't want to spoil your fun."

Akoya was looking flustered now. "So... all those things you said about me...?"

"Were meant sincerely," Naruko assured him. "I hope now that the fighting is over, we'll have more time to continue our conversations."

"Well, now that you mention it," said Akoya, "I suppose I could free up a few minutes later this evening..."

The two of them drifted off to the side of the group, the better to enjoy their chat away from prying ears. Zaou looked oddly proud.

"You know," he said, smiling, "I think all that hanging around me has been a good influence on him."

"I don't quite understand it," said Arima, "but I'm glad they're having fun."

The group was fragmenting. The Hakone boy was saying something about wanting to check on his brother, and also a bath, which Kinshiro inferred was his solution to essentially everything. Yufuin was complaining that he was tired, and intended to go home and take a nap. Arima had respectfully withdrawn, which resulted in Kinshiro being left more or less alone with Atsushi. He wasn't entirely sure that was what he wanted.

"So," he said, looking down at the ground near Atsushi's feet.

"Are you all right, Kin-chan?"

Kinshiro's gaze snapped up again. "Am I all right? Am _I_ all right? I nearly killed you! You almost died! Why are you asking if I'm all right?"

"You seemed upset," said Atsushi.

"I am upset!" Kinshiro shouted. "Of course I'm upset! Why aren't you getting this? I tried to kill you! The question is, why aren't _you_ upset? You should be furious at me for what I did to you. You should never want to speak to me again. You should want to punish me for what I did to you."

Atsushi shook his head. "I don't think I could do anything worse than what you're already doing to yourself."

Kinshiro threw up his hands in exasperation. "You're just too nice. What does it take to get through to you?"

"I almost died," said Atsushi softly.

Kinshiro stared at him. That didn't seem to be an answer to the question he asked, but Atsushi said it with an intensity that demanded attention.

"I almost died," Atsushi repeated. "It was a strange feeling. Everything was going cold and dark, and I almost didn't even hurt anymore. I wanted to come back, but I couldn't figure out how I was going to get there. Then suddenly it was as if I could feel a connection to all of you - you and my friends and your friends and even Wombat." He held up his hands, gesturing his inability to communicate clearly. "It was like I could feel what was in everyone's hearts - the way Yumoto absolutely believed everything would turn out all right and how hard Arima was trying to do what would make you happy and En... he'd have turned the whole world upside down with his own hands if he thought it was the only way to save me." He shook his head in quiet wonder. "I sensed you too. Maybe you most of all. I know how sorry you are and how much you wanted me back. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. You were trying to avenge me and you got mixed up. I don't blame you for that. Yes, you hurt me. You were also willing to do whatever it took to save me. I'd like to think it all balances out in the end."

Kinshiro shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. You can't just make the past unhappen. You got hurt, and you did it because of me. You could have saved yourself if you had been willing to show me your real identity before I attacked you, and you knew you couldn't do it because you knew I couldn't be trusted to go after your friends instead. And you might have even been right. It took knowing I was being used to convince me to give up my plans for taking over the world. That's not how a friendship should be."

"Kin-chan..." said Atsushi, and stopped. Kinshiro didn't blame him. How could he argue?

"I'm sorry," said Kinshiro. "You deserve better than me."

Then, ignoring Atsushi's protests, he turned and walked away.

* * *

Normal wasn't something Binan High did very well, but it was doing its best.

The boy who had been the Caerula Adamas's most recent target had taken over as president of the Press Society, and seemed to be enjoying his ability to make his opinions heard on campus. Several new members had joined, and Kinshiro had persuaded one of the teachers to step in as club advisor so that there would always be a responsible adult around to keep an eye on things. The club's original two members had suddenly transferred to another school and no one was quite sure where they had gone. Then again, no one really seemed to miss them.

The fad for the LocalLink program had died out as quickly as it had sprouted. Its users had figured out that they mostly weren't meeting anyone through it that they didn't already know, one way or another. Soon the only people still using it were the people who had simply gotten used to it and didn't see any reason to change over to something else. Akoya was still using it to take messages from his favorite admirer, and occasionally also from Zaou Ryuu, who seemed to consider himself duty-bound to give Akoya a hard time about all the time he was spending around his best friend. Kinshiro had already given up trying to figure out whether Akoya truly disliked these intrusions as much as he said he did, or if he was actually enjoying the battle of wits. Either way, the three of them were spending more time together than Kinshiro ever would have imagined a week ago.

As for Kinshiro himself, he wasn't using the chat program anymore. He had, in fact, been avoiding Atsushi. Not in the way he had before, when he'd been blaming Atsushi for all his problems and couldn't look at him without feeling a cold fury wash over him. No, he was avoiding Atsushi out of guilt. Not a night had gone by that he didn't dream of that moment when he'd brought down his sword and felt Atsushi's skin and muscle give way beneath it. In his dreams, there was never any last-minute rescue, no conveniently arriving friends, no angels or miracles, not even a helpful Wombat. There was just Atsushi, bleeding to death on the ground, wondering why his friend had betrayed him.

He was understandably feeling tired and irritable as he sat at his desk, going over paperwork and wondering why he'd ever thought instituting any policy involving checking even more forms had been a good idea.

His grumpy musings were interrupted by a brisk knock on the door.

"This had better be important!" he snapped.

"May I come in, President?" said a very polite voice.

Kinshiro looked up sharply. He knew that voice.

"You may," he said guardedly.

The door swung gently open, and Atsushi walked in, carrying a sheaf of papers in both hands. He walked so quietly that his feet made no sound at all on the council room's deep carpet. Kinshiro continued watching him silently as Atsushi crossed the distance between them and laid the stack of papers gently in the middle of Kinshiro's desk.

"What is this?" Kinshiro asked.

"Your forms," said Atsushi. "The ones you asked for, detailing club activities."

Kinshiro's eyebrows rose.

"You filled them out." His voice was flat with disbelief.

"You said we had to," said Atsushi, "or we'd be subject to strict disciplinary review."

"I see," said Kinshiro.

"I'd like you to read them over," said Atsushi deferentially, "and make sure I filled them out correctly."

Kinshiro said nothing. He simply looked up at Atsushi, trying to read him. Atsushi stood silently, hands folded in front of him, his posture conveying both politeness and absolute refusal to go anywhere until Kinshiro had done as he was asked.

"I suppose I had better," said Kinshiro, submitting to the inevitable. He began to read.

It turned out to be fascinating reading, starting from a time when Atsushi and his friend Yufuin had been soaking in the bath, talking about chikuwabu of all things, when a pink wombat had fallen out of the sky and started muddling up their lives. It went on for several pages, front and back, detailing every monster and every misadventure. A few paragraphs in, he began to grow interested in spite of himself. It was so strange, to read about everything that had happened from the other side of the fence. At a few points, he found himself biting back laughter. It all seemed so ridiculous. He sobered again, however, when he reached the end of the portion on club activities. He didn't really want to be reminded of what he had done the last time the two of them had met. Quickly, his gaze skipped down to the final section, the one labeled, "Future club goals". They read:

1\. Spend more time around the Kurotama. Persuade Gora to tell us more on what he knows about aliens.

2\. Wait for Wombat's friends to come and fix Mr. Tawarayama.

3\. Listen to more of En's philosophical lectures.

4\. Independently confirm the existence of at least one of Ryuu's girlfriends.

5\. Take bets on whether or not Io will reach his ten billion yen goal before he graduates.

6\. Convince Kinshiro that I'm really not angry at him.

Kinshiro looked up. Atsushi was still watching him, his eyes dark and serious.

"Did I do it correctly?" he asked.

"Do you really mean that?" Kinshiro asked. "After everything I did?"

"I do mean it," said Atsushi. "I miss you. I always have. And I can tell you miss me, or you wouldn't be so upset now. You're making yourself miserable and you're making _me_ miserable. Is that what you want?"

"No!" Kinshiro protested. "That's not what I want. That's never been what I wanted."

Atsushi nodded. "You said you wanted me to fight for you. Well, this is me fighting. So, are you going to accept this paperwork or not?"

Kinshiro stared at the papers in front of him. Then, with a sweep of his arm, he brushed the entire stack into the garbage.

"No," he said.

Atsushi looked stricken. "Kin-chan..."

"The Earth Defense Club," said Kinshiro, "is hereby exempt from paperwork. All paperwork. Forever. I don't think it's truly possible to quantify what you people do, anyway."

Atsushi laughed. "Don't scare me like that!"

Kinshiro smiled slightly. "That's a fine way to thank me for doing you a favor."

Atsushi took the two steps he needed to reach the desk and place his hands on Kinshiro's.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you so much."

Kinshiro raised an eyebrow. "For suspending your paperwork?"

"For being my friend," Atsushi replied. He gave Kinshiro's hands a tug. "Now, why don't you come with me?"

"Where are we going?" Kinshiro asked. He was already standing up.

"To the club room," said Atsushi. "We're having our regular meeting. When I left, En was explaining his thoughts on sandwiches. You wouldn't want to miss that, would you?"

"I suppose not," said Kinshiro.

He let Atsushi lead him out from behind the desk and drag him down the hall. He still wasn't entirely sure if he'd ever be able to forgive himself for what he'd done, but he could think of no better medicine than to spend time with Atsushi and his friends. They had always annoyed him with their cavalier ways, their habit of ignoring the things Kinshiro considered most important. They weren't hung up on rules or the right way of doing things. They were following their own paths, even if they happened to lead off into brambles and uncertainty. Maybe, Kinshiro thought, if he spent enough time with them, he could learn how to let go of some of his own high standards, and then he could finally move past his mistakes.

"Atchan," he said, "do you think your club would be willing to accept a new member?"

Atsushi gave him an amused sidelong look. "Maybe, if it was the right person. Why, do you know someone who would like to join?"

Kinshiro nodded solemnly.

"Yes," he said. "I think I do."

 **The End**


End file.
